We had our first full day excursion today, and this was out to visit the High Atlas Mountains outside of Marrakech. The journey began with a bit of musical 4x4’s as we were moved from one 4x4 to another for no apparent reason before finally getting going for a rendevous with a number of other 4x4’s from different hotels. Thankfully there was no more switching around for the rest of the day. A short while after we set off we stopped again for an introduction to the excursion and the Atlas Mountains.
The journey continued for a couple of hours stopping off at various locations on route to take pictures where the guides thought was best. Thankfully, the light levels allowed me to take some nice shots whilst we were moving as well. The guides photo spots were fairly unimaginative.
Along the way, we ‘dropped in’ on a Berber family where we were treated to mint tea and flat bread. Our host prepared mint tea in the traditional manner with a handful of mint leaves, a load a dried green tea from China and a large handful of sugar, for each pot! Needless to say it was very sweet, but it was also very nice.
Once we were deep in the mountains, we were deposited at a very nice restaurant on the side of a hill. Although the views were spectacular, we sat inside away from the strong winds that had started up as we arrived. Lunch was a traditional Moroccan meal with 2 starters, 2 mains and a dessert. All very nice, but perhaps a little too much for lunch.
The afternoon drive back to the hotel followed the same vein as the morning, although following a different route. We also stopped at a Womens Cooperative working to make various different things from Argan, including argan oil, argan butter and all sorts of argan based cosmetics. We were also able to try a variety of different things. This led to us buying a small jar of argan “peanut” butter (no peanuts, but Rosie thought it was easier to describe that way).